scotsgent

I am getting together the kit for replaceing my DMF and also a clutch kit. It will be all be SACHS stuff for my 2003 1.9 tdi 130hp 6-speed hatchback. My local garage will do the job, they are not Skoda or VAG specialists, but are competant 'generalists'. The other evening, I noticed a wee drip of oil from the seam between gearbox and bell housing and assumed this was likely to be a leaking rear crankshaft oil seal. I didn't have the nounce at the time to smell the oil to ascertain whether it was gear or engine oil and i couldn't see the colour. ( I will try to do this over the weekend). So, either a crankshaft oil seal or maybe input shaft oil seal on the gearbox would seem to be the culprit? Neither of these two items are particularly expensive and I can get both in advance of the job so the garage can be prepared to fit whichever is needed. BUT - after doing some research on the net. It seems that renewing the crankshaft oil seal might be a highly technical operation needing special VAG tools and know-how because the 'Crankshaft position sensor' is part of the seal? - and this needs specialist technical expertise to remove and particularly to fit. Maybe I have misunderstood the stuff I saw on the net but it seemed to imply that this was a VAG garage job only? So, my questions are: Can a competant garage refit a new Crankshaft oil seal without too much drama or is this definately a specialist process? and Is replaceing the gearbox input shaft oil seal straightforward during the clutch replacement process? Many thanks for any advice in advance. Cheers, Terry

Yes, I have. The inlet for the washer tube on my Octavia Mk 1 hatchback corroded and water got into the electrics. It also triggered a fault in the front wiper which then wouldn't switch off. I removed the rear wiper motor and 'stopped off' the washer pipe (to stop me from inadvertantly flooding the hatchback door internals with water). I plugged the hole in the window for the wiper spigot with a rubber 'end stop' for a walking stick, it was just the right size and a smear of silicone keeps it niceley in place. A plastic wine bottle cork might also work as would a rubber blanking grommet of the right size. I had intended this to be a temporary affair until I could get a new wiper motor but in truth, the hatchback window seems to self-clean and I may run permanently with it. I'm not sure if its an option just to remove the wiper arm and leave just the bare spigot since the MOT folks might then apply the rule that 'if its fitted' then it must work'? I've not seen any used motors on ebay for less than £25 plus postage - a new one is about £70. Cheers, Terry

Also it may well be that the tyre industry are adopting 'flexible pricing' - this is where there is no 'right price' only a price dictated by demand. Ferry fares are like this now, if you look on the Brittany ferries website right now, you will not find a 'price' for any route, you have to ask for a quote and then you get a price and this is influenced by demand. The higher the demand for a certain time period, the higher the price. So over the period of a year there will be many prices for the same product depending entirely upon demand. Thus, to get a good ferry deal (and apparently winter tyres), you have to book early when demand is low. Its just another way for the multi-nationals to rip-off the 'plebs'! :wonder: Cheers, Terry

In truth, I think all the good brands will have good performance. So, for me the issues would be longevity and price. Before I bought from Camskills (and they have arrived in lightning time!), I went to my local National Tyre depot. They quoted me £110 per tyre for Avon Ice warriors. This was too much and so I went to Camskills for the Goodyear Ultra-grips which on balance of cost (£73 in total per tyre delivered and fitted (and incuding fitting at £6 at National tyres) seemed good to me. When I went for the fitting at National Tyres, the manager asked me where I had bought the tyres - he then said, you should have asked us, we could have given you a deal" - I replied, that "I already had and their quote was waaaaaay above what I had eventually paid". He then said - "you should have seen me personally - I would have given you a pair of Ice warriors for £136 fitted!! All too late of course, but it goes to show that even the big boys can do good deals if they want to!! In this case from £220 to £136 for a pair! On the basis of his first quote to me I saved some £136 for the 4 tyres by going to Camskills! Cheers, Terry

Seems like you might be right! http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=63338 I contacted my insurers this morning and informed them of the change of wheels and gave them the sizes of my new winter tyres. "Thanks for telling us"......"no extra charge"..... was their reply! Cheers, Terry

The tyres that are en-route are 195 60 15, these are bigger than the recommended 185 55 15. On the Camskills site, you will see the Goodyear ultragrip 8's in this size are £63 each. The reason is the fact that the rims I got are 6.5j rather than the usual 6j width. The 185's might have fitted OK (they are the minimum recommended width for a 6.5j width rim), but I felt more comfortable getting something a bit wider and one which sits nearer the middle of the recommended range for the rim, so I went a bit wider. Now......this will have a knock-on effect, and one which I agree wouldn't be acceptable to everyone! Namely, the complete wheel's 'rolling diameter' will now be larger than the original 205 45 16, not by much, but nevertheless a wee bit, (about 1cm). The result will be that at 30 mph on my clock I will actually be travelling at 31 and at 60, I will be travelling at 62mph. To be absolutely honest, I had forgotten all about insurance implications when I decided that this 'scheme' would work OK for me. I don't do long trips in the winter and will mostly be doing local jaunts in and around Fort William/Inverness/Aberdeenshire, etc. and so can easily live with my new speed readings. However, I now see that departing from the 'correct size' of tyre/wheel, might make me vulnerable to my insurer backing out of any claim? However, I also see another point of view expressed on forums; namely that no one is actually going to check tyre sizes, etc. only if your tyres are in good condition (in the event of an accident) and so in practice, a slightly different tyre size is unlikely to be spotted! The impression that any policeman would get of my winter tyres is that " well, at least this guy had the very best tyres fitted") Anyway - I hope so..... my tyres are ordered now and I will fit them to their rims next week!! Chees, Terry

I have ordered 4 winter tyres from Camskill. Goodyear Ultragrip 8 @£63 plus £3 postage. Why this brand? Well, I was looking at Vredestein, Nokia and Continental but the following clinched it for me: http://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-articles/the-best-winter-tyres-of-adac-2010-2011-tyre-tests From Camskills it is also very reasonably priced, much cheaper than the Michelin and Conti equivelants and its in stock. It also had a good 'wear' resistance and rolling resistance in the tests. In the 'tyretest' reviews (from users), it comes out very well too. You wont find a decent brand USED tyre for less than £50 on Ebay, so buying these at £63 is in my view a no-brainer. Cheers, Terry

I found this list below: At least in terms of PCD and center 'hole' these all seem compatible. I believe a 'difference' of 5mm 'error' in the offset is usually OK (in the case of the Roomster at an offset of ET 43, then between 38 - 43 is OK). Personally, I decided to stick with wheels from VAG vehicles for my search. I have bought the very handsome 'wire spoked' BBS wheels - just refurbished and powder coated by the seller prior to sale at £80 for the 4! The ET is 43. This was a serious bargain. I discovered that local searches made the best sense and so searched 'gumtree' each day and also my weekly 'free-ads' paper. Ebay prices for anything good were way up and then there is carriage on top and more importantly, you cant examine them until you have bought!. A local search meant lower prices, no carriage and the ability to see them before you buy. I found it impossible to find a full set of steel wheels unless I wanted to pay around £40 per wheel. My lovely alloys, bought locally, cost half of this! Second-hand tyres can also be a bargain. Plenty of folks buy a set of winter tyres, use them for a winter and then sell the car. The wheels don't fit the new car and the seller just wants rid of them. These can be got at half-price! Check however the 'DOT' number to ensure a recent date of manufacture and that the tyres are only 2 or 3 years old and have not been lying in a shed for 10 years! I am now searching for a supplier of Michelin pilot alpin tyres since my research indicates that despite there being other good winter tyres around that these have the longest wear life. Unfortunately, carriage to the Highlands of Scotland and then fitting puts at least £25 per tyre on top of the list price from the likes of 'Mytyres' or 'Etyres' and so they tend not to offer the bargain prices which they at first seem. Any recommendations of a good supplier? Heres the list: 5x100 AUDI A3 5X100 AUDI S3 5X100 AUDI TT 5X100 28-30 57.0 CHRYSLER NEON 5X100 35-40 57.0 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER 5X100 35-40 57.0 CHRYSLER SEBRING 5X100 HOLDEN APOLLO <93 5X100 LEXUS ES 250 90-91 5X100 54.1 MG ROVER ZT 01> 5X100 38-45 56.1 ROVER 75 5X100 35 57 SEAT IBIZA 02> 5X100 35-45 57.1 SEAT LEON 99> 5X100 35-45 57.1 SEAT LEON CUPRA R 03> 5X100 35-45 57.1 SKODA FABIA 00> 5X100 35-42 57.1 SKODA OCTAVIA 97> 5X100 35-42 57.1 SUBARU FORESTER 5X100 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX 5X100 SUBARU LEGACY 5X100 SUBARU LIBERTY GEN2 BD 5X100 TOYOTA CAMRY <92 5X100 TOYOTA CELICA 86-96 5X100 54.1 TOYOTA CELICA 90-96 5X100 54.1 TOYOTA CELICA 00> 5X100 54.1 TOYOTA CORONA 5X100 VOLKSWAGON BEETLE (NEW) 98> 5X100 35-42 57.1 VOLKSWAGON BORA 98-03 5X100 35-42 57.1 VOLKSWAGON CORRADO 5-STUD 92-98 5X100 35-42 57.1 VOLKSWAGON GOLF III 5 Stud 92-98 5X100 35-42 57.1 VOLKSWAGON GOLF IV 98-03 5X100 35-42 57.1 VOLKSWAGON JETTA V-6 93-98 5X100 57.1 VOLKSWAGON JETTA 99> 5X100 57.1 Cheers, Terry

Thanks for your useful input guys!! A further question? I have sourced the following: __________________________________________________________________________________________________ (words from ad') 4 x 15" BBS Alloy wheels from a 1997 Mk3 Golf Vr6 Fitment is 5 stud, (5x100) Recently powder coated but one wheel does have a light scuff shown in picture. Will fit many models of Vw Audi Seat Tyres not included but had 205/50/15 on them. Can include wheel bolts if required. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ From what I can gather, these will make good candidates for winter wheels,and they are much cheaper at £80 the set than sourcing a set of steel wheels from the dealer). But before I actually buy and committ myself to journeying to get them; Will they fit my current Roomster scout 1.9 tdi? (this currently has 16" wheel and 204 45 16 but I would like to end up with 15" rims and 195 55 15 or similar). So.....will they fit OK? Will the offset of the new wheels, which I believe might be 38mm create any difficulty? (the current, skoda fitted 16" wheels offset is 43). many thanks in advance! Cheers, Terry

Thanks for that advice Lorenzo. Here there are no regulations relating to what tyres are fitted although in theory, if you didn't tell your insurance company they might not want to pay out in the event of an accident. OK - I have another related question. Where I live (in the Highlands of Scotland) most people have winter tyres fitted to the drive wheels alone (since we only get short occasions of very bad weather and they will be used for these periods only before reverting back to the standard wheels and tyres. OK....I KNOW that winter tyres on ALL wheels are recommended but nevertheless this is the normal set-up here for short trips on rural roads. So........I see that 195 55 15 wheels and tyres will give the same rolling diameter as the 205 45 16 that the Roomster is currently fitted with. So......is it possible to fit the narrower smaller wheels to the drive wheels only and keep the standard wheels on the rear? (Of course, I know that it is possible in terms of fitting, but is it likely to cause any gross handling problems other than the obvious fact that winter tyres all round are usually recommended). Perhaps rephrasing the question might be a better way - assuming no snow, would this work without any gross problems? ie narrower wheels on the front and standard wheels on the rear. Thanks, Terry

Thanks for your input guys. I found this site: http://www.kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual-tyre-size-calculator It does a nice job of calculating the effects of a change of size. In this case, my speedo will be in error by 6.9% Cheers, Terry

Roomster Scout 1.9 tdi current tyre size: 205 45 16 I have been offered a set of 205 55 16 winter tyres by my father in law. The size is larger than those which are currently fitted to my scout which are 205 45 16. I understand that this means the winter tyres are slightly larger all round. So, the question is: will they fit without fouling on the body work or touching any other areas of the car. Obviously, the way to be sure would be to fit them and see, but I wondered if anyone who is knowledgeable about such matters would know for sure in advance of me doing that. Regards, Terry

I have just returned after picking up a new Roomster Scout 1.9 tdi from Nottingham. The 400 odd mile journey north to Fort William went like a dream and I thoroughly enjoyed driving the car. I have one question, which relates to what seems to be a fault with the trip computer: When I select 'instant mpg' (not average mpg), then the screen seems to run a series of spurious readings (one every couple of seconds) and has no bearing as far as I can see to the expected mpg. eg. at 50 mph in 5th when one might expect a high mpg the reading skips about from anything from 36mpg to 120 mpg,with a new reading every few seconds) So, before I take the car up to my nearest dealer for a look, I just thought I would check that this isn't typical of this setting or that I am doing something wrong? Cheers, Terry

Hi Folks, I have just taken delivery of a Roomster Scout 1.9 tdi. I am delighted with it! I have just returned from picking it up in Nottingham and then driving it home to Fort William, where I live. I will no doubt be posting a few questions as time goes by. Cheers, Terry